Teaching Philosophy

I believe in
active learning. This is not necessarily a profound or unusual statement and
probably puts me in a predictable majority but I want to start with that. A
lecture, an audible list of ideas and ensuing discussion is good for things
like science, history, and philosophy (and also therefore useful for critical
art education). Teaching art requires a demonstration of the process by a
skilled practitioner of that art and then the students need to be allowed to
solve new problems with what they’ve learned. That way, the demonstration will
hopefully be like a bag of seeds which each student can then nurture into their
own unique processes and idiosyncratic productions thereof.

I do not want to cultivate mindless
technicians. I am interested in helping my students become artists and that
involves cultivating their intellect and critical thinking skills. Creativity
is not only about skill in the craft but also about substance, otherwise what’s
the point of making anything? I show many short films as examples and
afterwards I open a discussion with the class. I like to show at least two
films that are opposites, not necessarily in content but at least in form. One
film is usually a straightforward narrative and the other is usually a little
less conventional or off kilter. I have found that comparing and contrasting helps
form a useful binary for students’ critical thinking. The strengths and
weaknesses of each become more pronounced in such a juxtaposition.

After watching my films and reading
my thoughts on the alleged conceit of the narrative, one may be inclined to
think that I am interested in forcing that same experimental way of thinking
upon my students. However, I think that before you break the rules you need to
learn the standards first. In order to learn the standards you have to be
competent in the craft and constantly aware of what is happening in the
industry and it’s current pipelines. Even then, when you do start breaking the
rules and exploring more experimental means of expression, you can’t start
using your indie spirit as an excuse for ignorance or shoddy execution. Skill
and awareness of contemporary animation practices do matter and by extension,
industrial filmmaking.

Teaching students how to talk about
their own work and to clearly articulate their thoughts on the works of others
is an extremely important skill set. In addition to discussing the animations
of professionals I hold class critiques for the majority of assignments. Every
student is expected to exhibit and participate in those discussions. After things
wind down and I close the teaching subject of the day I like to dedicate a chunk
of time to navigate through the classroom. This allows me to identify students
with different learning curves and design an action plan to help them succeed.